Good Example Of Essay On Prison Term Policy Recommendation Proposal

Introduction

Bills of legislature are usually to extend prison terms for a crime that is trending popularly among the criminal elements is common. However, specific jail terms do not deter crime. Moreover crime does not manifest itself due to the absence of the law. It manifests due to social reasons such as unemployment, lack of opportunity to legitimate provision and even upbringing. The first time criminals know the risk of a jail sentence. The rational choice theory determines that the would-be perpetrator analyzes the risk and examines whether or not the criminal act will bring benefits or attract jail terms.
The concept of long incarcerations preventing crime came up during the 1990s when the crack cocaine trade diminished in the aftermath of a clampdown on drug related offenses; including repeat offences and gun violence. However, the real reason why crime receded was because of the strengthening of the economy and community policing. Crime cannot be prevented by locking up the end product without solving the root cause. This paper examines the merits and demerits of doubling the jail sentence for armed robbery.

Objectives of the Bill

The main objective of this bill is to discourage criminal elements from indulging in armed robbery. The subsets of this objective are to gain public favor, political mileage and keep perpetrators away from potential victims for a long time. A Bill such as this has to serve three key aspects; morality, equality and lack of social fear.

Goal of Bill

The goal of the Bill is to eradicate armed robbery from the jurisdiction of the state. The goal of the Bill is also to keeping citizens away from harm.

Research Findings on Extended Incarcerations

There are over three hundred thousand studies that were conducted on the effectiveness of long jail terms deterring crime. However, all studies indicated that the opposite usually happens or there was no real connection between the two at all. The research was conducted with the public, social groups, correctional officers and judges. The findings were surprising.

Rehabilitation

The public strongly believed that the increased jail term would certainly help however they also stated that incarceration should provide rehabilitation assistance for the inmates. Most of the sections were strongly against locking the perpetrators and throwing away the key indefinitely. Instead, they want a comprehensive plan to enable inmates to re-enter society after the sentence is complete.

Radicalization

Prisons in the United States are overcrowded on account of long jail terms. Prison population is often susceptible to radicalization by different religious gangs. The risk of an armed robber entering prison without any affiliation to gangs could find such association due to the length of the sentence. Although most of these affiliations are nonviolent, there are possibilities to breed domestic terrorism. Jails are not forgiving and neither are its inmates. The incarcerated inmate will choose to join one of these groups out of fear and for self preservation.

Overcrowding

Jails are brimming with prisoners and the situation is already becoming known as a national shame. There is already a call to release prisoners who have served long jail terms to ease the burden on the corrections department. The conditions of the living environment are despicable already. The passing of this Bill will only add to the worries and endanger correctional staff.

Lack of manpower

The corrections department is already plagued with workforce crisis; a sudden surge in the numbers will add to the burden significantly. Moreover, the turnover rate is extremely high already among correctional officers.

For-Profit Prisons

The public and social groups are also opposed to the for-profit prisons that are operated by private firms. These facilities provide almost no rehabilitation and often have revolting living conditions. There are already rumors that the Bill is aimed at boosting the for-profit prisons. The maintenance cost of these facilities is incredibly higher than state run facilities. If another scandal breaks out about any of these facilities, the extended incarceration bill would be one of the first to be investigated.

Recommendation for Proposed Bill

The recommendations for this Bill have been formulated, keeping in mind the cost for tax payers, rehabilitation of inmates and preventing the crime of armed robbery.

Degrees of Sentencing

The sentencing should not automatically double the defendant’s term in prison. Instead it should be determined by intensity and interval of the individual’s habit of indulging in crime. The first level should be allowed not to have any increase in jail terms. This level boasts of first time offenders with no other criminal history/minor felonies. They should be awarded the regular prison term that is already available in the system. The second level offender is defined as a history in committing crimes and is charged with armed robbery for the first time. This level should be awarded the regular sentence along with fifty percent increase suspended at the time of sentencing. The extension should be provided if the individual does not improve during rehabilitation efforts. If the individual responds positively in prison to rehabilitation, the inmate should be released on conditional parole when the regular prison sentence ends. This will allow an incentive for the individual to work towards rehabilitation.
The final level of incarceration is for the repeat offenders. They would receive a doubled sentence with a chance of conditional parole at the end of seventy-five percent of time served. This conditional parole would be advanced if the inmate exhibits good behavior also. The objective of incarceration should always be linked to effective rehabilitation to successfully transition convicted felons into responsible citizens.

Justification to reject bill in existing state

This Bill in its existing form will not serve the purpose of eliminating this particular crime. It will only result in the escalation of violence. The fear of an extended jail term will encourage perpetrators to kill their victims in an effort to reduce their risk of getting caught. The objective should be reworked to rehabilitate the existing prison population and not blindly incarcerate. There is a huge impact that the cost of prisons has on the nation’s economy and the best way to make amendments is in transforming former inmates to trained vocation workers who will help strengthen the economy. The criminal elements in the state need examples of successfully rehabilitated defendants to deter them from crime.
The appropriate approach to prevent this crime lies in community policing. The neighborhoods that produce the most numbers in armed robbers should be identified. The local police departments and government self help groups should conduct welfare programs in these neighborhood. Former convicts who have been rehabilitated could also play a vital role in guiding the communities to forfeit their life of crime in exchange for a chance to rejoin schools and colleges. The only way of passing a successful crime fighting Bill is by ensuring its success in follow up activities. This particular Bill falls short remarkably in its present form.